I often find it ironic that "evangelicals" are most concerned about
religious freedoms when it is they that seek to discriminate against the faith
of others. When a Mosque is being proposed to built anywhere they are the first
to protest its construction. When someone is describing other religions as cults
(ex: Catholic or LDS) you can pretty count on that person being an
"evangelical".

It is hard to take "evangelicals"
serious on religious freedom when they seek to deny it to others.

Evangelical religion is doing its' level best to use the bully pulpit to
push itself and its' agenda onto the public stage, and every time it
encounters resistance, or even law, it claims religious freedom is at risk, even
as it seeks to restrict freedom of others.

Evangelicals tend to push the envelope of religious freedom towards political
activism. and of course they do it while getting tax deduction for their
contributing members under the veil of "non-profit" status for their
organization.

See the first six comments as reasons why evangelicals are legitimately worried
about their freedom of religion being taken away. The comments essential serve
justify treating evangelicals' religious freedom less than that of other
Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. This freedom should be thought of as
speech. If you want freedom of speech, then you must allow someone to speak out
vehemently against the things you hold dear. If you want freedom of religion,
then you must allow someone to worship how or what they may, even when it
inconveniences you or even when their religious beliefs and practices bother
you--yes, even when they say things that get your blood boiling. The
evangelicals' alleged "misuse" is no reason to injure their rights
to the first freedom, for Congress shall make no law respecting the
establishment of religion nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

My goodness, there's a lot of "anti-evangelical" rhetoric in here!
As an Evangelical Christian, trained for the ministry, I may shock them all when
I say: You're absolutely right - but only to a certain degree. The above
comments seem to be gross generalizations about all Evangelicals, when in fact
these statements are true of only a small but vocal minority. Do we want to be
able to teach Intelligent Design alongside of other theories of evolution?
Yes.(Darwinism, BTW, is still ONLY a theory, as any reputable scientist will
attest) Unfortunately, some of the so-called mega-churches seen on TV surely do
seem to be money magnets. However, the great majority of we evangelicals attend
much smaller, community-minded churches seeking to do good in our little corner
of the world. As for those politically active, anti-everything evangelicals
(Westwood Baptist Church comes to mind),they are an embarrassment to
Christianity; again, they do not at all represent the huge majority of
Evangelical Christians, who seek only to follow the Savior's admonishment:
"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
(Matthew 15:12)

Strange, I thought almost every one knew about religious philanthropies, besides
the Salvation Army, which is a church by the way. One must also remember that
occasions like Christmas and Easter developed into customs over more than two
centuries in this country; and it is hard for people to see these customs get
the heave-ho. So, have a little patience.After all, we don't mind
people bringing their customs with them from their homelands. It's what
America does. On another front, while we still have problems with toleration and
civil discourse, usually, shouting matches is about as bad as it gets, anymore.
One cannot say that about some that are coming into our country,lately.
Sometimes there are conflicts between some religions' practices and the
laws of our State/Federal governments. As we see a growing diversity, we may see
more of these issues.

As active Mormons who attend an Liberty University, we have had some of the most
positive experiences among Evangelicals. We have never been discriminated
against and in fact have had just the opposite experience. Many of the comments
above display ignorance and antagonism. How about a little more civil interfaith
dialogue in place of hostility to a religious group with many of the same values
we hold together. Even though there is the occasional unfriendly, just as there
are in any groups, our experience being surrounded by Evangelicals on a daily
basis has been an overwhelming positive experience.

while I admit to having very strong feelings about
evangelicals (or any religious people for that matter) that seek through e force
of law to make others live their beliefs I think your comment is very important.
In our civil discourse we must avoid gross over generalizations and avoid
spiteful comments that harm those that seek peace. thank you.

RanchHand, what is the discrimination you are referring? The article is about
religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution and not individual preferences
of some Evangelicals. The same concern is echoed by other religious groups, and
which Elder Oaks has recently spoken.

@jttheawesome"Darwinism, BTW, is still ONLY a theory, as any reputable
scientist will attest)"

Yes, but the definition of theory means
something different in the field of science. Specifically, to quote the National
Academy of Sciences a scientific theory is "a well-substantiated explanation
of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been
repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment."

That's why scientists are so insistant about it despite calling it a
theory. When they use the word they mean it in a different way than the more
common usage of it to mean a guess or idea.

I think the main reason we are not all on the same page is that we are all
speaking a different language.

I believe that we can and should have
some core values that we can all stand for as Americans whether or not we are
atheistic, follow an organized religion, or something else. The Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights, and other
documents of national importance contain expressions of values which we can all
accept--basically: "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

None of that means that anyone else has a right to dictate our values or
in any way force compliance to anything other than allowing others the same
freedoms. Unfortunately, it is usually government that has the power to force
compliance to things that are not for the overall good of the country.

I remember a few years ago, while visiting in Spanish Fork. A Baptist minister
talked to me about the dangers of being a Mormon, and missionaries were being
sent to call Utahans to repentance. Cult, and devils were used to describe the
local people. I have seen similar people at the Manti pageant with the same
rhetoric.

I guess it’s a sign of the times that when any group that feels itself
being marginalized they end up playing the “victim” card. The irony
here though is that mythic religion has been totally dominant for centuries, and
now when humanity is beginning to wake up and reject their worldview, the
religious folks are freaking out. Hopefully someday (if they don't destroy
humanity first with their lust for an apocalypse), mythic religion will become
about as important to future generations as magic is to us.

"The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth, but is at the
present limited to an ecclesiastical kingdom. During the millennial era, the
kingdom of God will be both political and ecclesiastical, and will have
worldwide jurisdiction in political realms when the Lord has made 'a full
end of all nations' (D&C 87: 6)." (LDS Bible Dictionary).

Doctrine and Covenants 87:6 says this "end to all nations" will be
accomplished through war and bloodshed:

"And thus, with the sword
and by bloodshed...shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath,
and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption
decreed hath made a full end of all nations;"

What happens to the
nonbelievers?

D&C 1:14 declares:

"...the day
cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of
his servants (the Mormon leaders), neither give heed to the words of the
prophets and apostles (the Mormon leaders), shall be cut off from among the
people;"